The biggest fighting game tournament in the world, otherwise known as Evolution 2013, took place last weekend at Las Vegas and it was the most successful one yet breaking new records with attendees present at the Paris hotel & casino, competitors in over a dozen of games, and stream viewers. Numerous memorable moments as expected happened in grand finals day for King of Fighters XIII, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Super Street Fighter IV and they’re as good as championship games seen in any sport. Besides the tournaments, there were a lot of new fighting game-related announcements there from new characters being revealed for existing games to new updated versions for games that have been out for a while.
Iron Galaxy Studios’ Divekick finally has a release date for the Playstation 3 and Vita. After being playable in multiple builds for a whole year at numerous tournaments, conventions, and trade shows, the game is finally being released on August 20th for just $10. Divekick is not your traditional fighting game as it is has only two buttons, but the gameplay is deeper than you think with numerous mechanics seen in prior fighting games out this console generation. Also out in August is the long awaited PC version of Skullgirls. New to this version are a variety of new characters have been added in thanks to a successful donation drive held earlier this year.
Ed Boon and a ton of people from NetherRealm Studios were at Evo not only to see the best Mortal Kombat and Injustice players duke it out, but also announce a character for their DC fighting game. After being rumored for weeks, Martian Manhunter is the fifth DLC character announced for Injustice. The trailer above shows off what he plays like along with the reveal of the new John Stewart costume for Green Lantern. Fans of the Justice League cartoons will also recognize the voice acting for Martian Manhunter and the John Stewart incarnation of Green Lantern as those voice actors are reprising their roles for Injustice. No release date for the new DLC has been announced yet, but expect more information this weekend about a potential second season pass at Comic-Con San Diego.
A new playable build of Killer Instinct, the Xbox One exclusive reboot by Double Helix Games and Rare, was also present at Evo 2013. Glacius was finally playable after being announced alongside Jago and Sabrewulf at E3 last month. Also debuting this weekend was the “counter breaker” mechanic where players can counter combo breakers. The trailer above also teased the return of another character from the original, which is Chief Thunder. Unfortunately, the demo during the Evo 2013 stream was a little disappointing to many from the infamous KI announcer being annoying with the number of combo breakers being executed to the saying of Microsoft and Xbox One alone getting booed by the Evo crowd. This build of Killer Instinct will also be playable at Comic-Con San Diego this weekend.
The biggest fighting game announcement of the weekend is yet another update to the Street Fighter IV series. Ultra Street Fighter IV is the fifth version of the series with new balance changes to the existing roster, five new characters, new modes, and new stages. Four of the five new characters have been announced and they are Hugo, Poison, Elena, and Rolento. The fifth character will be revealed at a later time and supposedly another original character making his or her debut. Keep in mind that the four new characters were also in Street Fighter X Tekken and the new stages are apparently some of the stages that appeared in that game as well. Ultra Street Fighter IV comes out early next year as a retail release and a download for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC via Steam. Those already with Super Street Fighter IV or Arcade Edition can upgrade it for $15, but the retail version is $40 and includes all the DLC released for the series so far along with a new batch of costumes for the new characters if you pre-order. Arcades at Japan and other countries are also getting the update too.
That is all of the new fighting game-related announcements from Evo 2013. Any fighting game fans excited for the new characters in Injustice and Killer Instinct along with the announcement of Ultra Street Fighter IV? Let us know in the comments below.
